Politics1 min read

Spain train crash: US, Japan and Canada citizens among dead, authorities say

By · Via The Guardian · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The collision near the village of Urda occurred after an automated safety failure halted traffic across a 63-kilometer stretch, after which rail operators mistakenly permitted the Renfe train to advance into the stopped Iryo train. Sixty-six bodies have been formally identified, with foreign victims spanning North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Investigators are still awaiting the arrival of overseas families to identify the final three victims connected to missing reports for two Australians and one Japanese national. As Spain mourns its second high-speed rail disaster this year, the tragedy puts significant pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez weeks before national…

Key points

  • The disaster marks Spain's second fatal high-speed rail collision this year following an…: The disaster marks Spain's second fatal high-speed rail collision this year following an Andalusian crash that killed 46 people in January.
  • Specialized authorities are still coordinating with international families to confirm the…: Specialized authorities are still coordinating with international families to confirm the identities of the final three victims.
  • Severe fallout over rail safety standards emerges as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez faces a…: Severe fallout over rail safety standards emerges as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez faces an uphill general election on 29 November.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Four US citizens and one each from Canada, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Tunisia and the Czech Republic were among the 69 killed in last week’s high-speed train collision in Spain, authorities said.

Wednesday’s disaster – one of Europe’s deadliest rail accidents this century – has seen victims’ relatives endure an agonising wait as forensics teams identify the dead, sometimes from individual body parts.

A legal body set up to handle the identification work, made up of police and forensics experts, announced in a statement late on Sunday the 10 latest confirmed foreign victims.

It had already announced the deaths of a French and a Portuguese citizen, as well as that of 54 Spaniards.

All but three of the victims are now identified, the statement added.

Three reports for missing people remain active, the authorities said. They concern two Australians and one Japanese citizen.

“As the contacted families have expressed their wish to travel to Spain to carry out in-person identification, we are awaiting their arrival in the country,” the statement said.

The accident was Spain’s second high-speed train collision this year…

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